Ef A Tale of Pictures
by Paul Falcon
Summary: An artist that lost his brush. A girl filled with her passion. A boy corrupted by his passion. A boy in search of lust. A girl running out of time. Could you paint a picture of your fondest memory?


Chapter 1 - Scratch

Darkness. Complete utter darkness.

_Hello?! Can anyone hear me?_

A weathered hand lifts a brush, paint dripping from the tip. The tip of the brush inching so close towards the empty canvas.

_Is there anyone in there?! Answer me!_

The soft tick of a clock drowns the silence, each tick more menacing than the next. The unsteady hand still holding up the brush towards the canvas.

_Onii-chan! Where did you go? Don't leave me!_

The man's hand twitched just a bit, losing the grip of his brush. The brush seemed to fall in tune with the loud ticks from the clock. As the brush fell to the floor, the hour hand struck twelve and the clock let out a loud dong, marking the time of the night. The clock's dong repeated a couple more times as the hand formed a fist an shook.

A loud clatter on the floor, the water glass shattering in shards slowly as it's contents spilled all over the place. The artist's pallet was leaning up, the paint running down the pallet and mixing amongst each other along the floor. The weathered hand rested over the table that was knocked over, pulling it back up right. The table being sat up right, the man leaned his elbows on the table, his hands clasping the top of his head.

_Onii-chan, your pictures are so beautiful. Will you paint a picture that's even more beautiful than the ones you done before? That's a promise, right?_

The man's head sunk in between his arms, his hands gripping the back of his head.

"Damn it…"

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**Swoosh! **A soccer ball is kept from going even further by the goal's net.

"Emma-chan! Soccer practice is over already! How much longer do you plan to stay out here?"

The sweat glistened as she brushed her blonde hair aside, giving her somewhat of an angelic look.

"I just want to practice a little bit more, I'll get everything put away and locked up. See you tomorrow."

The girl's form was nothing less marvelous as she ran towards another soccer ball, kicking it into the goal.

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**CHA-CLICK! **A camera lenses could be seen poking through a hole in the gate, managing to catch the girl as she kicked the soccer ball into the goal. The picture turned out great due to the fact it was done with a professional camera.

"Excellent."

The boy muttered to himself as he took more pictures of the girl, As he was looking through the camera's lenses, he suddenly got taken back from seeing the girl looking straight at him.

"Hey! I don't remember giving you permission to take pictures of me."

The boy blinked and fumbled his camera a bit, almost dropping it upon hearing the girl calling over to him. He managed to get a good hold on the camera and pants a bit, shaking his head and bowing.

"I-I'm so sorry. I-I-I was just d-doing this for the school's newspaper. I-It's just that, you are such a big idol in our school and-"

He stopped upon hearing the girl's laugh. He blinked a bit and glanced over to the girl, seeing her motioning him to come on over.

"I was just messing with you. Come over here so that you could take better pictures."

He blushed a bit, seeing the girl smiling a bit and winking at him.

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A young boy laid beside a young girl, a cigarette lit as he stared up into the orange sky. He took a puff and blew the smoke into the air. The girl laying beside him sat up and started to fix her shirt buttons back up. The boy noticed that the girl was looking his way, with a concerned look on her face but, didn't bother to ask what was wrong.

"You really need to stop smoking."

The boy glanced over at the corner of his eyes, seeming somewhat annoyed.

"Shut up."

He watched the girl stand up from the floor, fixing her skirt. The boy stood up as well, walking a bit away from the girl, looking out through the gate that surrounds the rooftop.

"Isn't your girlfriend waiting for you? You are pretty lucky, Yin-kun. All the boys would love to be dating the school's Idol Soccer Star."

The boy took another puff from his cigarette.

"That's none of your concern."

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The girl frowned at how coldly Yin-kun had answered her.

"Humph, looks like someone doesn't care who they hurt. Well, unlike you, I do care. I can't do this to Emma-chan anymore. I can't do this to Kito-kun, either. After so much he has done for me."

She blinked a bit, hearing Yin-kun laughing a bit. She turned to the boy and stepped a bit closer to him.

"Hey! What's so funny about that?"

She didn't back down until she would get an answer from him. And from the looks of it, the boy wasn't going to hide it as he looked up at her.

"Kito-kun, huh? That talent-less , lolicon? You're still hanging onto a worthless jerk like him?"

**SLAP! **Her right hand drew across the cheek of Yin-kun, leaving a sore mark on Yin-kun's face. The girl stood there, huffing a bit, seeming like it took a lot out of her to slap the boy in the face.

"Lena-chan, you know I'm only worrying about you. With the condition you're in-"

Lena-chan's cheeks had a flow of tears running down them.

"H-How dare you… like you know anything about Kito-kun. He's suffered enough already and yet, he was willing to take in a sick girl and take care of her. And on top of that, I'm betraying him by being here with you. Maybe you should stop and think about what it is you're doing to Emma-chan. I can't do this anymore."

Lena-chan turned and ran towards the door, pulling it open and running in, not even once looking back to Yin-kun. As the door creaked to a close, the girl started to cough harshly. And she continued to cough until she coughed up blood on her hands. Lena-chan stared down at the blood with a worried look on her face.

"Ugh… I need my medicine."

She sighed as she walked down the stairs.

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Yin-kun rubbed at his cheek and sighed, as he watched Lena-chan running through the door.

"Don't run, idiot. It's only making your situation worse."

He leaned his back against the wall, staring over at the sunset.

"This 'love' thing is such a bother…"

[To Be Continued]

Next time - Chapter 2 - Watching

_**Can you paint a picture of your fondest memories?**_


End file.
